Drive Flashback: 1994 BMW 850CSi

An M8 in everything but name, and ferocity.

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This article originally appeared in the May 1994 issue of Road & Track.

What with firestorms, earthquakes, mud slides and, as I begin this report, torrential rains, flooding and even a tornado, Southern California has hardly been a boring place of late. I know that the rest of the country has suffered through an absolutely terrible winter as well. You would think we should all be lusting after AM General HUMMERS and not bucks-up European exotics.

But I've just driven our BMW 850CSi test car to the office through this latest cruel onslaught of Mother Nature (and hasn't she been a cruel mother). Not only did I arrive just fine, thanks, but I had a super-neat driving experience as well, with one recurring thought: This is what it must feel like to drive a Formula 1 car of the 1993 vintage.

You may think I've been out overly long in the weather (Southern Californians reserve this word "weather" only for the anomalies), but let me amplify. Like its 850i predecessor—and a 1993 F1 car—this car is dense with electronically-controlled driver aids. Plus, in its CSi trim—and like the F1 car—this BMW coupe exhibits gobs of performance in just about every dynamic area. Driven in decent conditions—as for our track testing and photography, for instance—its acceleration, braking and handling are superlative. Driven in horrid conditions, its powerplant, brakes and suspension are equally superlative—but now you realize the important role played by the car's electronic gadgetry.

Before we continue, though, let's put the BMW 8 Series lineup in perspective. At $108,450 (gulp; and to think I was drifting it in the rain), the CSi is the company flagship, its V12 powerplant bored and stroked by BMW M GmbH, the renamed BMW Motorsport. Think of this car as the firm's M8, in limited production of 200 examples over two years (and, sorry, you're already too late for the first year's run). Most 8 Series coupes will be in 840i form ($73,140), propelled by Bayerische Motoren Werke's lovely V8 mated to its state-of-the-art five-speed automatic. Between these is the 850Ci ($94,150), essentially the car we tested back in June 1991.

The arithmetically advantaged will recognize that healthy pieces of change separate these cars, so it's not unkind to ask what sets the CSi at the pinnacle.

The most important, and costly, difference is the car's V12 powerplant. Its displacement of 5576cc is 12 percent larger than the Ci's, but its 372 hp is 26 percent greater, a compression ratio bumped to 9.8:1 being part of this analysis. Torque increases to 402 lb-ft from a measly 332.

Apart from cylinder count, the CSi's powerplant is a conservative one, a single overhead camshaft per bank actuating a bare minimum of two valves per cylinder. In fact, several of our staff members thought the powerplant performed too conservatively as well. There's plenty of power, mind, but it's satiny-smooth. And, except for the wonderful Spitfire whine of the starter, the powerplant's mechanical sounds are subtle, or to put it rather less kindly, they're without character.

No one is looking for a calico-ripping snarl here. Nor would anyone be offended by a little audible reminder of the V12 once it's running.

There's reminder aplenty once you depress that pedal on the right. Sixty mph arrives as quickly as 5.9 seconds (versus 7.3 for the Ci). And, owing to the car's Variable Throttle Linkage, it comes up in a suitably complex manner: There's a console switch marked 'S' for Sport and 'K' for Comfort. (And, contrary to Mark Twain's view, I believe foreigners actually pronounce better than they spell.) Anyway, Sport invokes a more aggressive actuation of throttle hardware; Comfort, a smoother, softer control.

A gimmick? I'd certainly keep it on Komfort when weather arrives, all the better to feather into that torque.

Or, returning to my F1 fantasy, occasionally I tried just planting my foot to the floor and letting the All Season Traction electronics do its stuff. (Don't try this at home, kids; remember, I'm a professional.) In fact, ASC+T, as it's also known, modulates power through spark timing and throttle and, if needed, applies one or the other rear brake until a negligible degree of slip is achieved. It's fun in the wet, and I would guess uncanny on ice or snow.

And, no, we haven't had sleet in Newport Beach just yet.

Even with something as simple as full-grip acceleration in a straight line, there's electronic wizardry at work. The CSi's redline is variously 6400 rpm (in first and second gear), 6200 (for third), 6100 (fourth), 6000 (fifth) and 5150 (sixth); this last one, by our own calculation as the car's top speed is electronically limited to a Deutsche politischkorrekt 155 mph. And isn't thatthe kind of PC thinking you could buy into?

There's good logic in these variable revs: An enthusiast is unlikely to bounce off the limiter for long in the lower gears; but one might stay in fourth, say, through some handling transition. What's more, like a lot of the CSi's electronics, the variable rev limiter is transparent under all but the most extreme conditions.

Other CSi characteristics that are less transparent include its front air dam and rear skirt with diffuser, its 17-inch M-styled forged alloy wheels and fore/aft-specific rubber. Front tires are 235/45ZRs; rears, 265/40ZRs. The suspension is M-modified as well, its ride height reduced to the point that care must be taken to avoid damage to the air dam's rubber protection strip. (We managed to ruin one.)

It's a low car and it's a large one as well; some would say too large for what's essentially a two-seater. (Though there are belts back there, think of the rear area as upholstered niches for extra things, not extra people.) The front is certainly a comfortable, secure place for driver and passenger. A multiplicity of colors and textures, and gathered Nappa leather and yew hardwood, give the CSi's interior rather more warmth than is common in lesser BMWs. And I particularly like the stylish reminder of its heritage: a subtle stitching on the leather-wrapped steering wheel, three-toned in M Motorsport red, blue and mauve.

The CSi's dynamic capabilities re­mind me of this heritage as well. Note, for instance, the car's laudably quick slalom speed of 62.0 mph, right up there with nimble little front-wheel-drivers that ordinarily excel in this exercise. Indeed, our Road Test Editor Kim Reynolds found the car very controllable in its transitions from gate to gate, hampered only a bit by gearing that gave him too much throttle sensitivity in third and too little in fourth. And the CSi circled our skidpad at a steady-state 0.89g, not bad at all for a car with a test weight of 4355 lbs.

Reynolds reported mild understeer, very good controllability and a high fun factor. (Apparently he found this big coupe as tossable in the dry as I did in the wet.) Both of Kim's evaluations, by the way, were done with All Season Traction in its off position.

Braking gave no such option and none required, what with the CSi's ABS performing splendidly: Kim's "panic" stops were utterly misnamed in this case, 60-0 mph in 135 feet and 80-0 in 220, with the least bit of drama imaginable. And, despite the car's healthy test weight, the brakes exhibited no fade whatsoever in our extremely rigorous six-stops-from-60 routine. In our road experiences, the brakes were equally superlative, with or without weather.

So what sets the CSi apart from other European supercoupes? The Mercedes-Benz 600SEC and Porsche 928 GTS might be thought of as competitors. On the other hand, cars of this level are acquired and should be appreciated for their unique spirits, not for their comparable features of performance, luxury or style. The 850CSi is, first and foremost, a BMW. Sporty and capable, like a Porsche. Luxurious and capable, like a Mercedes-Benz. Yet unlike either of these.

Maybe its most serious competitors are others in the BMW 8 Series line. When we evaluated the original 850i back in June 1991, we said it was up to someone to take its canvas and to paint in dazzling reds and sunburst yellows. It's a bit more subtle, but what we have here in the CSi is BMW M's red, blue and mauve.